14/12/2017
China has begun work or completed building infrastructure on about 72 acres (29 hectares) of land on outposts in the South China Sea this year, according to a report by the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
While the global focus has been on North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, China has been quietly developing facilities from underground storage areas to hangers and radar arrays on reefs in the sea. The new real estate is on reclaimed land at Fiery Cross, Subi, and Mischief reefs in the Spratlys chain, and North, Tree, and Triton features in the Paracels.
"Beijing remains committed to advancing the next phase of its build-up—construction of the infrastructure necessary for fully-functioning air and naval bases on the larger outposts," the report said.
Read more at Bloomberg
Click here for updated South China Sea news
In the past few years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been expanding its activities in the South China Sea in particular and the Indo-Pacific in general.
On July 5, a week before hosting the 2023 NATO Summit, Lithuania released its own Indo-Pacific Strategy, becoming the 6th European country to devise such document (after France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Czech Republic, if not including the EU). A few observations could be made from a...
On the 7th anniversary of the final ruling rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal in the arbitration between the Philippines and China concerning the South China Sea (July 12, 2016 - July 12, 2023), some countries, including claimants and non-claimants, issued statements expressing their positions regarding...
On 28 April, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its final Judgment on the dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, finally ending the dispute that had lasted for over three years. Both Mauritius...
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu officially visited Russia from April 15th to April 17th, 2023. The visit was closely monitored by the West due to their belief that the increasingly closer relationship between China and Russia, both politically and militarily, may result in China’s decision to provide...